Congratulations to the 2023 Norwich Purple Tornado seniors! Pictured from L to R: Richard Fuller (#1), Sandler Montgomery (#3), Holden Ryan (#4), Spencer Root (#5), Colin Olds (#22), Gabe Blenis (#54), Zavier Bucksbee (#50), Patrick White (#60), and Dakota Andrial (#74). (Photo by Morgan Golliver)

NORWICH – Hosting two-time defending state champion Maine-Endwell on Friday night, Norwich was reminded of its recent past with the Spartans, experienced the present, and was given a glimpse of the near future.

The Spartans answered an early Norwich challenge with five straight touchdowns on their way to a 56-20 victory on the Purple Tornado’s senior recognition night.

“I told the guys, very few high school teams get to play the number one team in the state, and we do it every year and sometimes twice in a year,” said Norwich head coach Mike Chrystie. “Once we get over the hump (against these teams), and we will, we’ll vie for a state championship.”

The Spartans have had their way with Norwich in recent years and jumped out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead after TD runs from Jaden Branch and Vincent Mancini.

Norwich, though, had a quick-strike response of its own to those early scores.

Braden Hagenbuch, who has taken the reins as Norwich’s lead back since Holden Ryan’s injury, scored on a 49-yard TD run. Spencer Root’s point-after kick cut the M-E lead in half.

For the next quarter and a half, it was all Spartans.

Mancini and Landon Rollo had a pair of TD runs before halftime raising the lead to 42-7.

“Even against them last year in the sectional final, we were able to move the ball against them,” Chrystie said. “We did a good job of blocking, we were able to throw the ball (with Steven Dowdall), and Braden ran really hard. I was fairly pleased with the way we were able to move the ball against their ones, and (Maine-Endwell) kept their starters in longer than people thought they would. We didn’t put up a lot of points until the second half, but we were able to move the ball.”

That success moving the ball is something the Purple Tornado (4-5) will need to carry into next week’s Class B sectional semifinals playoff game.

Norwich, Owego, and Windsor all finished with identical 2-2 division records; however, according to Chrystie – who did say he hasn’t heard final word from the section – Norwich will likely earn the four seed in the playoffs after tiebreakers are computed.

That means Norwich will head down Route 12 next weekend for a return date against Maine-Endwell.

“We go into every game not to just keep it close, but to compete and win the game,” Chrystie said. “We’ll never lower our standards (even against a team like Maine-Endwell).”

Norwich’s second-half offense against the unbeaten Spartans was sparked by Dowdall’s passing, and another big Hagenbuch touchdown run.

Dowdall hooked up with Richard Fuller on a 46-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, while Hagenbuch added another long touchdown run in the fourth scoring from 54 yards out.

Norwich finished with 336 yards of total offense against the usually stingy M-E defense.

Dowdall finished 11 of 21 passing for 165 yards, and Hagenbuch racked up 148 yards rushing on just 14 totes.

Score by quarters

M-E    21  21  7  7--56

Norwich  7  0  6  7—20

Scoring Summary

M-E, Jaden Branch 44 run (Jack Hennessey kick). M-E, Vincent Mancini 7 run (Hennessey kick).  N, Braden Hagenbuch 49 run (Spencer Root kick), M-E, Mancini 80 run (Hennessey kick). M-E, Landon Rollo 1 run (Hennessey kick), M-E, Rollo 20 run (Hennessey kick), M-E, Mancini 45 run (Hennessey kick), M-E, Nyschot 48 pass to Hennessey (Hennessey kick), N, Steven Dowdall 46 pass to Richard Fuller (kick failed), M-E, Max Policare 4 run (Hennessey kick), N, Hagenbuch 54 run (Root kick).

Team statistics

First downs:  M-E 19, N 12; Rushes-yards: M-E 28-409, Norwich 18-171. Passing: M-E 3-5-0, 109, N, 11-21-1, 165. Total yards: M-E 518, N 336. Fumbles-lost:  M-E 0-0, N, 0-0. Penalties: M-E 3-26, N 2-15. Punts-avg: M-E 0-0, N 4-27.3. Records:  M-E 8-0, Norwich 4-5.

Individual Statistics (Norwich)

Rushing:  Braden Hagenbuch 14-148, Steven Dowdall 3-20, Zach Parker 1-3.  M-E:  28-409 yards.

Passing:  Dowdall 11-21-1, 1 TD, 165 yards.  M-E: Austin Nyschot 3-5-0, 109 yds, TD.

Receiving:  Richard Fuller 5-101, Collin Olds 3-22, Zach Parker 2-26, Braden Hagenbuch 1-16.